Do Democrats think women are helpless?

Obamacare includes a provision that, as the new platform put it, ” ensures that women have access to contraception in their health insurance plans.” Because Republicans oppose the Affordable Care Act, speakers at the Democratic National Convention have been suggesting that Republicans want to deny women “access” to contraception and give employers a say in their female employees’ decision-making on birth control.

And what is “access” ? Access means free. Obamacare mandates that health-care plans provide contraceptive services without a co-payment, as in the co-payment that still applies for drugs needed to treat men and women with cancer.

But forget the co-payment issue for a moment. To believe that employers would deny a woman “access” to contraception, you have to believe that a female employee of a church-based institution — or, a private employer who objects — is incapable of going to a doctor or a health clinic to obtain contraceptives on her own. You have to believe that women are not autonomous. You have to believe that women are helpless.